'Coronation Street' wins big at NTAs

Bang
23 January 2013 22:00 GMT

Alan Halsall dedicated his prize at the National Television Awards to his late co-star Bill Tarmey after wearing his watch for good luck.

The 'Coronation Street' star - who plays Tyrone Dobbs - won the award for Serial Drama Performance and used the moment to remember Bill, who played Jack Duckworth for three decades on the soap before his death in Tenerife on 2 November at the age of 71.

Speaking after picking up his award, Alan exclusively told BANG Showbiz: ''I'm sure Bill is looking down on me now. He'll be having a pint of Guinness for me. His wife asked me to wear his watch today so here it is.

''This award is for him. He literally guided me from the start of 'Coronation Street'. He was like a second dad onscreen if you like. He was a huge influence. He'll be laughing at this right now. He'll be laughing his head off that I've won this award.''

The soap also won the award for Serial Drama of the year and star Bill Roache, who plays Ken Barlow, admitted he is thrilled with the victory.

He said: ''Winning this award is down to the writers and the producers. How the writers come up with these storylines I don't know? They are brilliant. We have the great stories and we have the ability to portray those stories. We've got a great cast.

''The champagne will be flowing tonight and we will have a good evening.''

'I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here!' and Ant & Dec were also big winners at star-studded event in London's O2 Arena, which was presented by Dermot O'Leary on Wednesday night (23.01.13).

The presenting duo won the top prize for Entertainment Presenter for the twelfth consecutive year despite not being able to attend.

Helen Flanagan and Ashley Roberts collected the award on behalf of the ITV reality show after it was voted Entertainment Programme of the year.

'Downton Abbey' won best Drama, while 'EastEnders' star David Witts won Newcomer of the year.

Other big winners included 'Merlin' star Colin Morgan, who won Drama Performance Male, and Miranda Hart from 'Call The Midwife', who won Drama Performance Female.

This year's Special Recognition Award went to 'Absolutely Fabulous' star Joanna Lumley OBE.

The emotional 66-year-old comedian - who broke into tears twice after receiving her award - was also recognised for her work as an activist supporting the Gurkhas.

She said: ''What touched me tonight was seeing a picture of my daddy because he's dead now and I keep my family in here.''

Olympic heroes, Lord Sebastian Coe, Sir Chris Hoy and David Weir CBE picked up the prestigious Landmark Award on behalf of all those who involved in London 2012.

'The X Factor' host Dermot donned his dancing shoes once again to perform a complicated routine to 'It's Got To Be You' with 'Strictly Come Dancing' judge Darcey Bussell.

Girls Aloud star Kimberley Walsh also took to the stage to perform her debut solo single 'One Day I'll Fly Away' for the first time and Ella Henderson also performed Cher's hit 'Believe'.

Happens to the best of us. Just pop your email address in the box and we'll send you an email with a special "Reset your password" link.

Email address

We’ve sent you an email showing how to reset your password. If you don’t see it in the next few minutes, please check your spam folder to make sure it hasn't gone astray.

Joining stv.tv is free. Once you're in, you can access all sorts of good stuff (see panel below).
We'll keep you up-to-date with new STV shows, services and special offers.

stv.tv is free and easy to use. Plus, we’ll keep you up to date by email about STV shows and services.

Joining stv.tv is free and automatically enters you into our new fun I Love STV game. Earn points and win prizes as you keep up with your favourite programmes (see details here). Plus, once you're in, you can access all sorts of good stuff (see panel below) and we'll keep you up-to-date with new STV shows, services and special offers.

stv.tv is free and easy to use. Plus, we’ll keep you up to date by email about STV shows and services and automatically enter you into our new fun I Love STV game.

If you don’t want these email updates, tick here. You may miss out on news about programmes and special offers. If you are currently under 16, you should tick here anyway.

stv.tv is free to join and so is entry to our sporting challenge. Earn points and win prizes as you use the site during the World Cup. You could win Champions League tickets or join us for our World Cup Final samba party (see Ts & Cs). Plus we'll keep you up to date with STV shows, services and special offers.

stv.tv is free to join and so is entry to our sporting challenge. Earn points and win prizes as you use the site during the World Cup. You could win Champions League tickets or join us for our World Cup Final samba party (see Ts & Cs). Plus we'll keep you up to date with STV shows services and special offers.

Smart move to use your social media account to access stv.tv. All we need now is your name and email address so we can stay in touch.
You only need to do this once, and don’t worry; we promise not to give it to anyone else, ever.

First name

Last name

Email

Date of birth
❓
This helps us ensure that our email communications to you are appropriate. Plus we'll send you a birthday message!